I set out to make Norway Chess 2015 the first tournament where I produced a daily tournament report and summary of games, but trying to do so with family visiting from out of town was probably a bad idea. I wrote seven tournament reports and published six of them because there was not enough time to balance family and blogging. And now Norway Chess is over and GM Veselin Topalov is the clear winner with a quick (18 move) draw against GM Vishwanatha Anand and earning 6.5/9 points in the overall tournament.

Much of the chess world had already pegged Topalov to win the tournament, so his victory was not as much of a surprise as was Magnus Carlsen’s loss to GM Jon Ludwig Hammer! I can imagine that commentators and enthusiasts will be analyzing the 34-move Carlsen vs. Hammer game for some time, especially considering the shock factor associated with the win. GM Hammer is the lowest rated player in the Norway Chess tournament and Carlsen is the current World Chess Champion. I am sure that Hammer is going home today with a big smile on his face knowing that he defeated the World Chess Champion in the last round of one of the strongest tournaments out there.

If the final standings of Norway Chess 2015 are any indication of how the Grand Chess Tour is going to go then I think we can all sit back and get ready for a year filled with exciting and mind-blowing chess! Replay all of the games from Norway Chess 2015 below.